The New Villian
by Silent's Screams
Summary: Long ago, Odin made another goddess of a child that was raised much like Loki. Now, she comes back in her jail cell, and Thor gets suspicious of her glances and appearance. So, he goes to SHIELD to discuss this new goddess, and plan a defense if she ever attacks. Also, Loki finds interest in her, and begins to wonder if he can help.
1. Prologue: Capture

**Prologue**

Odin sits on his golden throne and watches Asgard in worry. Behind him, shackles are heard, and metal boots clamp against the marble floors of his kingdom. He turns his head around to see a girl around the age of twenty-one smirking. Her hands are cuffed together and her eyes are determined, as if she is playing a game and is winning. Thor, who stands at the foot of the throne, turns around too and sees her. He narrows his eyes, crosses his arms, and slightly spreads his legs. "Is this the goddess of intelligence and deceit?"

"Yes," Odin spits. He slowly stands up and strides around the room, staring down at the girl who only stares back with a smirk and glimmering eyes full of intelligence and knowledge. "I remember when I first found her. She was on a frozen rock, very much like your brother, Loki. Though, I didn't want to keep her. I gave her to one of the most intelligent nurses, named Cathidra."

"I remember her," the girl says, her silver eyes gleaming. Blowing her light brown hair from her face, she glances back up at Odin to hear more of his words.

"Cathidra was worried for the child," Odin goes on, ignoring her comments. "She knew that the child was different, and not the most normal. So, she asked if I could make her a goddess to make her better. I told her that if the child was likely to be different, it was likely that the child will be a different goddess. But Cathidra wanted utter safety, and pushed the child closer to me. So, I made the child the goddess of intelligence and renamed her from Everest to Althea. Then, she grew to be much older, and played along with you and Loki sometimes."

"Oh my gods," Thor widens his eyes as he begins to remember. "I remember her! Loki told me that he liked her, but never talked about her again after-"

"Silence, Thor," Odin demands. Down below, Althea smirks as she thinks of Loki. "Anyways, Althea will be sent to jail for her crimes. She managed to read so many books, that she mastered making others gods and goddesses. She even made herself the goddess of deceit, along with her intelligence and knowledge." Through his silver eyes, Odin looks frustrated at Althea's continuous smiles. "She's just like Loki. And I am glad I didn't take her in as my own, or else she would have turned out worse than this."

"You forgot to mention the city I destroyed," Althea smirks, twiddling her fingers.

"Oh yes, I did. Therefore, Tokyo will be fine for now." Odin stands up and begins to walk around the room. "Cathidra would not be proud of what she made. Why would you repay her with death and the lives of many innocent souls that have done nothing?"

"No soul has done nothing, Odin," Althea narrows her eyes. "Also, it wasn't for her. It was for you."

His eyes flash and he orders the guards quickly, "Take her away!" Right then, the guards nod and begin to pull her away harshly.

When his father is not looking, Thor runs after the guards and begins to follow them. The whole way down the staircase, Althea is silent. When they are in the jail, Thor sees Loki looking up to see the new prisoner. His eyes widen in shock and he almost backs away at the sight of her. Thor looks at him sternly, but back to Althea, who dips her head to the other prisoners as if in a friendly greeting. But all the prisoners do it sneer and rip at the hologram that separated them from each other. Then, Althea will continue to smirk and move on with the guards quick strides.

Finally, they reach her cell and throw her into the room. She lands perfectly on her feet, barely stumbling, and waves to the men as they storm away. When they see Thor, they only greet him and move on. Thor nods and walks over to Loki, as if for help. "Do you remember who she is?"

"Althea," Loki looks for her. "What cell is she in?"

"Not sure, and I'm not checking," Thor rolls his eyes. "Now, do you remember her being a goddess?"

"She surely looks like one."

"You know what I mean."

"Alright, alright... I do. I saw Odin do it, when I was wondering what he was doing to the little baby child and Cathidra."

"How come you never told me?"

"I didn't have to. Now leave."

"Why?"

"Just leave me, Thor."

"Fine, then!" Thor storms away, hoping he can go to earth to meet with SHIELD and discuss this.


	2. Chapter One: Determination

**Chapter One**

Steve Rogers closes the door behind him and stares around the room of superheroes he used to fight with. Currently, he is one of the only normally dressed ones, since Bruce and Tony are not yet here. He walks over to the large round table and sits down with Thor and Nick Fury. Pushing a card to him, Fury leans forward in his chair, and when it is in Steve's reach, he slowly moves back. "Thor says that there is a goddess planning to overrun us. He's not yet sure, but he says the glint in her eyes proved to him that she is worthy of being a villain against him."

"A girl that looks at him odd? Maybe she just thinks he's weird," Tony chuckles as he enters the room. Bruce follows him, along with Natasha and Clint. They are, of course, late, but might have a reason. Tony pulls up a seat and sits in it backwards, still facing the table. "Alright. So, Thor. Why do you think this girl is even close to evil? She might just be a formerly evil goddess that hates you from-"

"She is!" Thor retorts, crossing his arms. "Althea is the goddess of intelligence and deception. She can bring any of you out of your way, and she can outrun any of you in the race of intelligence and knowledge. Althea was a dirty fighter as a child, and already destroyed the city of Tokyo. It's unknown to all of you because of your foolish leaders, that wish not speak of it." Thor gets up and points to the window that shows the clouds miles above the earth. "As a child, she always kept her promises. One day, she threatened to kill me in the future when I told her that Odin didn't want her."

"Why you and not Odin?" Natasha asks, her red hair bright from the white light above her head.

"She and Loki had some type of alliance, I believe," Thor wanders around the room, touching electrical things that only gave him power. He smirks down at the electrical stuff and moves on. "They both hated me for being Odin's favorite, and wanted to kill me. So, as they spat evil words at me, I would just ignore them and run up to my father, who would look for me and love me in front of them, which made them worse. One time, she said something so bad, I told her the truth on which Odin thought of her. That he never wanted her. Althea was furious, and was set out to kill Odin and me, starting with me. Now, she's back."

Bruce pushes up his glasses and sighs, "You can't ever be sure. She could've just got in trouble."

"I wish you could see her," Thor narrows his eyes at Bruce angrily, then the others around him. "If you did, you would declare war on her at first sight. She's more than evil, and just a glance will take you to a new world of darkness, which she will bring."

"I'm guessing that means she's ugly," Clint quietly speaks. "Wow, that's harsh."

"She isn't ugly, really," Thor looks at his boots and back up to the others. "She's quite beautiful, which can be intimidating for most of you single men." Steve and Bruce look at their feet awkwardly. Clint rolls his eyes and Thor goes on, "If any man messes with her, she takes advantage of it, and makes them into one of her. A shadow of her being."

"How do you know that?" Steve asks.

"I saw her do it with a frequent guard as a child. When she was little, she possessed others with her deception and used it against them. So, they became a literal shadow and followed her around until they were destroyed."

"Is that what destroyed Tokyo?" Fury tilts his head to the side and wonders.

"I'm pretty sure," Thor glances at a picture of Tokyo that Fury is looking at and darts his eyes to the window again. "If the guardian of the portal will let me, I would love to bring you all to Asgard with me when I return. But I am not sure it is safe, nor if it is a good idea for such powers to join more power."

"I wanna go," Tony raises his hand quickly then puts it back down when no one else does. He shrugs, "It seems interesting."

"We will all go, if we are allowed," Fury says. "Thor, ask your guardian man to bring us there. Now."

Thor looks up to the heavens and closes his eyes. He feels power surging through his and he grabs his hammer boldly with his magnetic power. When he feels an agreement, he nods to the others and brings them all together. "Hold on tight, or you probably won't make it." Somewhere, he hears someone snicker slightly and they begin to rise quickly. Then, they are off to Asgard.

After teleporting through the unknown, they safely land on Asgardian floors. Thor looks around happily, glad to be on his own land for once. Natasha, who seems to be the most shocked, glares around the temple and widens her eyes in fascination. Joining her, Clint holds her shoulder and drops his jaw open when he sees the Rainbow Bridge that leads to the kingdom. Thor chuckles at Tony's awed face and looks to Steve, who is silent, but still very stunned by its beauty. Thor pats his shoulder and chuckles, "Ready?"

Nodding silently, Steve looks at Thor and begins to follow him to the kingdom.

When they reach the kingdom, Odin storms down to them and holds out his staff angrily, "Thor! What are these people doing here?"

"Don't worry, I was allowed here," Thor holds out his hammer next to Odin's carefully. "Now, let's get to business, Avengers." As he passes his father, he whispers, "They are my team of Avengers. The other saviors of Earth."

Odin just glances at him furiously and shakes his head, walking away. As they walk through the throne room, Fury demands, "Where is Althea?"

"Down in the jail cells," Thor says.

"Shall we go there now?" Bruce asks coldly.

"Yes." Awkwardly, Thor begins to head in the direction of the staircase to the jail cells. Inside the jail cells, he first sees Loki, who glances at them evilly. Waving, her grins evilly and Natasha is the first to quicken her pace. Thor looks to her as she walks beside him, clopping her high heel boots on the floor as she moves swiftly through the hall. "What's wrong?" Thor asks.

"Loki always scared me," Natasha shivers quickly. "Now, let's go to that Althea."

"She's not any better," Thor murmurs.

When they reach the cell, there is a dark substance. Althea seems to not notice them and Bruce asks, "Is this some type of force field that makes her so she cannot see the outside?"

"I think so."

"Makes sense," Bruce touches it and gets zapped. He flinches and shakes it off shakily, hoping to not turn into the Hulk.

"Althea!" Thor calls. "Oh wait... It blocks out sound too."

"Yup," Bruce smirks, still shivering from the zap. "I wouldn't touch it, guys."

"Yeah, you should've thought of that earlier," Tony snickers shortly and studies Althea. Then, he freezes when she turns around to full view. So do the other men around her and they tilt their heads in confusion. "Wha- She's so... Gorgeous."

Natasha glares at her enviously and tries to shake Clint from staring at Althea too long. "Clint!"

"I was just examining her!" he shrugs.

"Boys, this is Althea," Thor sighs.

Althea taps her boots on the ground and smirks, as if she hears them from inside. Then, she kneels down to the jail cell glass and smirks. "Brought me friends, Thor?"


	3. Chapter Two: Release

**Chapter Two**

"How do you know we are her?" Natasha shakes as she steps back.

"I know everything," Althea stands back up, her eyes narrowed and ready. "Now, why are you here?"

"No reason," Fury says. "SHIELD just wanted us to check up on all the Asgardian prisoners. I think we're done with her, shall we be going now?" He is addressing the others, but they shrug, trying to stay out of the questions the girl asked and not lie to her. Fury sighs and says again, "Shall we go now?"

"We shall," they all say, Natasha one of the first to leave.

Steve is among the last to leave and freezes when he hears Althea speaking from behind him. Slowly, he turns around to see her face as she smirks down at him. Behind him, the others stop and turn too. Althea, who is pacing slowly back and forth, watches them with curiosity. "Lying to the goddess of intelligence and deception is among the worst ideas ever, Nick Fury." She says his name sharply, and has a bit of an accent to it, that makes Fury stare at her with his dark eye in awe. Before he says something, she goes on harshly, "The all-knowing is stronger than you think. I'm not a nerd, nor a jock. But I am the perfect source of knowledge you get, and the hardest to ever fight."

"How do you-" Fury tries to speak, but she only goes on. Worry and sweat courses through his appearance and he backs up, hand on his pistol as he watches her walk closer to the edge.

"Don't ever challenge me, don't ever interrupt me, and don't do anything that is against my plans," she goes on, putting her finger just beside the electrical currents from the force field that blocked her from the outside of her cell. Thor narrows his eyes at her, but before he can say anything, Althea asks angrily, "Do you remember when we were children? When I always beat you in wresting matches? When I beat you at almost everything? Do you remember my threat? Do you remember my _library?_"

"Your library," Thor's pupils shrink to the sound as he remembers. Long ago, as children, Althea had a library that she and Loki would hang in for almost forever. Though, when Thor came in, he met with the largest, most wise and powerfully haunting creature. The Wise Owl of the Great Library, that haunted those halls. It would attack him, and he'd be left wounded after trying to confront the owl.

"That was me," Althea smirks. "I was that owl. And I wanted you dead, but knew it wasn't possible."

Closing his eyes, Thor begins to storm away. Then, the glass of her cage begins to shudder, and then it broke. Quickly, Thor shouts, "Everyone get down! This can kill you!" He dives down behind a cell and waits for the glass breaking noise to stop. When it's over, he grabs his hammer and looks out from his hiding place.

From where he is, he can see large black wings flapping back and forth. Then, an owl screeches, making the noise echo through the chambers. It appears from out of its cell and its large cat-like black eyes look at Thor first. It screeches again and approaches him, its white face like the snow, and black body and wings like the darkness that barely shines in the night. Quickly, Thor hides behind the cell and looks at where Loki quietly watches them, narrowed eyes and a smirk plastered on his pale face. Thor growls and crawls somewhere else, watching the owl ram into the cell he was recently hiding behind.

Where the owl hit, a scream echoes from there and Thor sees Natasha lying on the floor, blood all over her body as she holds her leg in pain at the affliction. The owl pecks at her body and she punches it in the face, making no effect at all. The owl hoots and shoves her to the side with its wing and approaches Thor once more. He throws his hammer at the long neck and it flies backward from the power of the throw. When it comes back, Thor shouts, "Is this Althea?!"

"Yesss," the owl speaks with a hoot, but a hiss as well. "Now, let'sss begin with the firssst death I promisssed long ago." Althea backs her neck up slightly, then charges her beak at Thor. When she hits him, he screams in pain and pulls her out of his chest. "Fool! Trying to outrun me with hissss ssssupposedly sssstrong witsss and hammer. I can defeat that eassssily." Screeching in triumph, Althea dives her head down one more time and nearly plucks off Thor's head of hair with a strong thrust of her backward movement. When she realizes it's hard to strike, Althea sighs, "I guesss I'll have to kill the othersss."

"No!" Thor throws his hammer once more at the owl, missing because of her quick, swift movement to the side.

From his view, Thor can see Bruce turning into the large, green Hulk. He is equal in size with Althea and roars loudly in her bird ears. She only hisses and kicks him off of her as he tries to attack her. Thor goes to the owl and wraps his muscly arms around her neck and pulls tight. Tony turns into Iron Man and waits beside the owl's head. "Trying to kill us is a bad idea, Althea. Worse than talking to you."

"No, not really," Althea chuckles and pulls free from Thor's grasp. She kicks him in the throat and laughs loudly, "Trying to stop me is much worse than anything!" She kicks him in the head and he throws a quick punch at her. She falls back from the power; therefore, gets back up. Finally, the sirens begin to sound and the guards pour down the staircases with spears, swords, and even bows and arrows. Althea, who is not intimidated, flaps her wings, causing the ground to crumble beneath them. She watches them fall and laughs at their pain.

Loki, who is in his cell, watches her with interest. As she swats Thor away, Althea looks to him and freezes. "Loki..." she manages to whisper quickly. Swiftly, she dives over to his jail cell and breaks through the force field with an easy thrust of her beak into the shield. When she is through she hisses, "Loki... I have saved you from this tomb of hell."

"You have," he glares into her pitch black eyes and strokes her owl head. "I love you, Althea."

"I know," she whispers with a sigh. "Come with me, Loki."

"I will," he gets on her back and she begins to flap her wings and rise above the jail, breaking through the ceiling. Natasha shoots a pistol at the owl, and Althea screeches angrily, tossing her to the side with a swat of her wings. Loki calls out, "Nice try, you SHIELD addicts. We will be waiting to destroy the world, and you'll probably be waiting to get your butts kicked."

"Will not!" Fury shouts back.

"Typical SHIELD," Loki chuckles, being flown away by Althea.


	4. Chapter Three: Escape

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading my book, and now, I ask you one precious question. Can you leave a nice, harsh, neutral, or even a long review please? I'd love the support and I will definitely continue if you stop by and use some of your time to kindly make me a review for this story or other ones I have made. Thanks, my loves :3**

**Scream Healthy!**

**-Silent's**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

As Thor watches Loki disappear with Althea, he begins to close his eyes in shame. Around him, guards lock up the freed prisoners and the Avengers squad looks at Thor with anger. Bruce, who is back to his normal self, sits down on a pile of rubble and places head in his palms. Then, he looks up at Thor with squinted eyes and says, "Are you alright, Thor? You seem- er- shaken up a little bit."

"The most powerful and intelligent goddess and god just escaped under my grasp," Thor angrily narrows his eyes and turns around to look at Bruce. "I just had a fight against a vicious, man-pecking owl that escaped to destroy the world. How do you expect me to feel, you beast?" When Thor turns around, tears well up in his eyes as he thinks of Jane and her safety. Quickly, he moves away from the public view and hides somewhere more private. He watches Natasha sit with Clint and hug him as she gets her shoulder put back into place. Thor sighs, _I have brought affliction to my companions._

On his shoulder, he feels a gentle, but shaky, touch hold him close. Over his shoulder, Odin stands by his side, eyes dull. He says, "I should have left them both there to die, even though that would be cruel. It would have saved us all from the pain and death we are to face."

"I think it was something you had to do," Steve walks over to them. "You would have had guilt on your shoulders for the rest of your life if you let them die. Or they could have been picked up by someone else."

"They should've been," Odin growls, leaving the two to themselves.

Glancing at Steve, Thor shakes his head and rests his hand on his shoulder. "I think you're right, Rogers."

"I know I am, and so does Odin," Steve crosses his arms. "Let him be for now. His kingdom just got ruined."

* * *

**Althea's POV  
**

As Althea flies above the city, mounted guns are shot at her and Loki at they soar. Moving her from side-to-side, Loki makes sure she dodges every shot, and he is lucky enough to still be leading her the right way. Hissing through the wind, he tells her, "It looks like their ships were not prepared for this. We might be able to make it to my secret entrance."

Just as he says it, planes begin to rise behind Althea and she is left to look at it and screech. "Attack the ships!" Loki demands to her. "They can't survive this, or else they will know where we will be going and capture us there!" Nodding her long head, she spreads out her wings and breaks, falling back like a parachute; therefore, backwards instead of down. She stops by a ship, that tries to break to catch up with her. Quickly, she dives onto it, pulling at the men who waited on the ship with guns. She pecks at every one of them and shoves them out of the way.

Loki, who is on top, jumps down and kills them easily with his knife. When they finish off the other ships, he jumps back on her and she flaps her wings to fly away. When she is on her way, Loki chuckles and says loudly through the wind, "I'm sure we will be able to get through my secret entrance."

"The one you showed me assssss a child?" Althea looks back at him, her pitch black eyes narrowed, trying to remember.

"Yes, that one," Loki smiles as they near the mountain. He glances behind them, and it seems like no one is around them. Smirking, he looks forward again and laughs, "We are getting close! Into that crack-"

"I remember," Althea thinks hard, and then, BOOM! They are through.

As they land safely to the ground, Loki looks in front of him, eyes flashing. Althea turns back into her correct form and stretches out her arms. "This place is nice. Where will we go after we rest?"

"Anywhere. Let's take over the world, perhaps," Loki comes close to her.

"I remember when we were younger," Althea glares at his glistening eyes and sighs happily. "You were always getting me into mischief."

"I wonder if I was the reason you became the goddess of intelligence AND deception."

"Probably."

Then, as they walk through the open desert-like world, Althea remembers a memory from her childhood in Asgard with Loki.


	5. Chapter Four: Flashbacks

**Chapter Four (Flashback from Althea's mind)**

The halls are glistening from the lights shining through the white stained glass. On the floor, reflections of their figures are found and Loki (little Loki :3) smirks at his. Next, he sees another girl's. Instead of a robe, she wears armor that she had found on the ground of an abandoned library long ago. Surprisingly, it still fits her, its platinum and gold trim shining from the light beam. Althea looks at Thor, who is beside Loki, and sneers slightly, her long brown hair tied into a ponytail and moving as she moves as well. "Ready to go, Loki?" she addresses him clearly.

"I'm sure I am, other than what we have among us," Loki's eyes gesture to Thor, who barely seems to notice what is going on. _Fool! He'll never be one of us, that god of lightning!_ Loki thinks angrily, balling his fists. _He better not ruin my day with Althea._ Then, he stands beside the girl and is closing to touching her hand to his, but he does not dare, since she might be shocked and turn into her true bird, an owl. "Thor, you must go now."

"Who? Me?" Thor looks from side-to-side, as if he were looking for someone else that Loki was trying to address. However, he had to have known the truth.

"Yes you!" Althea rolls her eyes. "We're going somewhere where you will never find us. Now leave us, Thor." Her words came out like ice; therefore, burned like fire. Loki likes that about her, and can't help but smirk. Then, her eyes flash and Loki can tell she is about to turn into an owl. However, he knows that Thor must not know, so he calms her by muttering soothing words in her ears. Obviously, she is calming down, since she breathes deeply and lets it out, making her thin shoulders droop as she speaks.

"Goodbye, Thor," Loki turns off the illusion and he goes back to his normal self, which is by the abandoned library. Laughing, he tells Althea, "Wow! He really had believed it was me!"

"Ha! I wish I could've seen his face when you left," Althea's gray eyes gleam and she snickers too. "Now, let's get into the library. I noticed a huge collection of smart comebacks to play on people. However, we could all assume you wrote that, since you're the best at comebacks." Laughing, the two open their secret door to the library and look into the dark room. With her finger, Althea turns on the lanterns, which quickly open their large beams of light that shine onto the shelves to produce pure light onto them. "I can't believe they thought that the 'Night Owl' was a ghost. Ha! Of course not! It's me, obviously. You can tell that the owl is me, right?"

"Yes, of course I can," Loki says it smoothly, and softly. Sighing, he follows her to the collection, which he had never noticed before. Glaring at the books, his eyes shine and he asks, "Why might we have never been here?"

"When my Night Owl self finds some other idea, a new shelf is put in here."

"I thought you knew everything."

"I do. But when I remember that something and use it, the Night Owl spirit, which is partly me and partly this library, will insert in a new shelf of a collection of possible books for that category." Stroking her hands on a dusty book, she blows off the dust and swats it away. "I can't believe everyone abandoned this place. When I was born, they must have thought an intelligent spirit must have entered this place, or an intelligent human died."

"I don't get why they don't know either." Shrugging his shoulders, he pulls out a book that is called, _Greatest of the Comebacks._ Scrolling through the contents, he realizes it is a book about the greatest comebacks in war history. Through the realms and beyond... Loki closes the book and smiles, "I might borrow this one. Mother never wonders why I have so many books, and then suddenly get new ones. Obviously, she's nowhere near intelligent." Snickering, he puts the book in his bag and continues to look through the endless shelf of books.

"I thought you loved your mother, Loki. How come-"

"I do love her. I just don't want her to embarrass me by being stupid. I mean, I can call her stupid all I want and still love her, right?"

A moment of silence erupted through the dim light. A sound at the door is a crash, and Althea pulls Loki into the shadows of the shelves. Through the light, Loki can see Thor, who looks afraid; however, very determined. From the blonde boy, he calls out, "Loki?! I know you're in here, brother! Come out." Then, he begins to walk around, and Loki cannot help but snicker at the fool that dares to enter the temple of the intelligence and knowledge.

"I've got this," Althea climbs the shelf, in hopes to make it through without being seen.

_Be careful!_ Loki thinks, dreading to call it out. Therefore, he knows Althea is smarter than ever, and cannot be seen by a slip of stupidity. Also, he doesn't want to risk anything to ruin their friendship.

Then, screams sound from where Thor recently was and then Althea returns, a smirk on her face. "He left."

* * *

Althea is brought to the real world quickly by the sound of Loki's voice. He whispers to her, "You seem troubled. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Althea's eyes flare. "I was just thinking... Does Thor know of this place? Or any of his friends?"

"He knows I have it, but never dared to ask where it was," Loki smirks and glares around the desert. His eyes flash as he thinks of something, and Althea puts her hand on his shoulder. His face grows paler than before and he looks to her. Althea blinks at his flushed face and she backs up, letting go of his tough, muscly shoulder. Sighing, he says, "Sorry, I just didn't expect you to do that."

"I understand," Althea snickers a little, memories of her youth echoing through her mind. "I just heard of what you really felt of me." A gulp sounds from Loki's throat and Althea furrows her brows, then laughs, "I'm glad you were in love with me. It's weird for me to say, but..." She looks over to the opposite side of her and closes her eyes, hoping he would not notice her shame. Then, a cold hand touches her cheek and softly pulls her head to face him. His eyes are calm and determined and she cannot help but sigh.

"What is it?"

"N-Nothing."

"Tell me."

Without hesitation, she blurts out, "I love you, Loki. Still, from the bottom of the Abyss of Asgard to the top." Tears form in her eyes and she then stops as another memory flashes through her head.

* * *

On the pond by the Asgardian palace, Loki and Althea sit on the edge of the bank, glancing off into the distance as the Rainbow Path. Smirking, Loki looks at her quickly, then turns his head a gesture for her to look back at him. Rolling her eyes, she smiles and then looks at Loki, swearing to herself that his muscles have grown bigger since she last saw him, which had only been a day ago. As she turns her head back to the pond, she feels a cold hand touch her own and she freezes, no longer breathing. Loki's hand is on hers, and she doesn't know what to say.

Two eighteen year old gods glaring off into the distance, one hand on the other. Then, at this romantic moment, Althea sighs, "Sometimes, I feel like my own mother doesn't even like me. Neither does Odin, who obviously hates me with all his life."

"There are others who care," Loki taps his fingers on the top of her hand, looking somewhere below, probably at her hand.

"Like who?"

"Like me."

"You do?"

"Where have you been?" he snickers. Then, he stands up and picks her up do, hands still held on hers as the face each other. "I've always liked you, my dear friend. I've never had the guts to tell the goddess of intelligence and deception that, but I really do."

Blushing, Althea looks at the ground and giggles, "Really?"

"Of course," he takes her cheek into his palm and rests his lips on hers. For a while, they stand there, kissing each other. Then, the memory fades.

* * *

Althea blinks out of the flashback and sighs. Loki, who seems to be studying her, pulls her hand to him gingerly and whispers in her ear, "Don't cry, my love. I feel the same for you. Remember when we kissed?"

"I-I d-do," Althea smirks. Tender lips touch her cheek and she tries to stay calm. "It was the best day of my life."


	6. Chapter Five: More Flashbacks

**Chapter Five**

Thor walks along the borders of the Rainbow Bridge. He ignores Nick Fury's strict orders and glares out to the mountains, wondering where the two evil god and goddess went. Sighing, he continues to wander around, dangerously close to the edge of falling from this large point in the air. In his mind, he imagines himself diving off the top of the bridge down to the water. He imagines the death he might face if he doesn't call his hammer in time, or if it doesn't come when he needs it the most. Then, he imagines the blood stains that will encircle the water if he dares to jump down stupidly.

_Am I really _that_ stupid?_ he begins to think, remembering when he was younger and was basically tortured with comebacks from his own brother and Althea. He sees the once "Night Owl" in his head in the Abandoned Life of Knowledge Library. He remembers the gasp of his father when he had "disobeyed" by going to search for Loki, who was what he thought was in trouble with Althea.

Then, he remembers his first confront with Althea.

* * *

In the library, Thor looks around the endless shelves of books. Then, only the lights around him are on, and then everything grows silenter than before. Holding out his knife from his mother, he cautiously looks around the area and sighs. _What if the Night Owl doesn't really exist?_ he begins to wonder, creeping through the shadows, the lights following his every movement. Then, he calls out, "Loki! I know you're in here. Come out!"

Soon after his call, he hears a flap of wings then freezes in fear. He holds up his knife and before he can call out "hello!?" he is snatched by talons that carry him to the ceiling of the library. The owl, that is above him, tosses him out of the library through the ceiling of the abandoned library. When he is in the air, he screams and he looks at the water below him. The Rainbow Bridge is seen from his height and he zooms right over it. Then, the Guardian of Worlds runs out, as if he knows Thor is in the air, and throws out a little box that catches Thor like a net, carrying him down to the guardian.

When he is by the guardian, Thor crawls out, panting, and says through deep breaths, "I-I just saw the Night Owl!"

"Why would you go in the abandoned Life of Knowledge Library? I cannot even see there," the guardian crosses his arms and he looks down at Thor in anger. "You disobeyed Odin, and you know it. You disobeyed me and the orders of Asgard."

"But there is something Althea and Loki are up to!" Thor groans stubbornly. "I think they go into the library to hang out or something-"

The guardian puts a finger over Thor's mouth to silence him. His eye twitches, and then he orders, "You must go back to the palace of Asgard. Here is a horse to take you there." He gives him another box and Thor opens it up to meet a large brown horse. "This is my personal horse, and it will return to me once you get off of it." Like a friend, he smiles as he helps Thor onto it, "Try not to fall off."


	7. Chapter Six: Touch

**Chapter Six**

When they go back to Earth, Thor is one of the first to sit down. He looks at the others, and they do the same. As they settle at their table, Nick Fury grabs out a piece of scratched up notebook paper. Placing it on the table, he sighs and lifts his head. "I tried to take notes, but that wasn't the best idea. I didn't suspect a battle to go on, so I kept it out," Nick Fury turns the paper towards him and blinks. Thor can see that on the paper, there is an attempted drawing of Asgard. When Nick Fury notices him glaring at it, he crumbles it up and throws it behind him. "But it's useless for now."

Smirking, Thor rests his arm farther up the table. He listens to them talk, but he knows that all their strategies are useless for now. All that is left, is to wait for the enemy to attack. Defense will have to be their main quality, since there is no way to find the two powerful demons straight from the bottom pits of Hell. As they continue to talk, Thor glances at a screen that scrolls through every bit of the Avengers' loved ones. While it goes through, it stops at Jane Foster. At this moment, Thor wants to take the screen with him and find her; however, he knows that there is nothing he can do. Then, the screen changes.

_How much longer before I can see her again?_ he thinks with frustration, scratching at the metal table his arm rests on. When he is bored, he says, "I am going to my dorm." Everyone stops talking and stares at him, astonished that he was not listening to everything they had just told him. Without a word, he steps up and begins to make his way away from them. Nick Fury eyes him with the coldest eye, even though he only has one. Thor does his best to ignore him and walks out.

Closing the door behind him, he stumbles over to the side of the wall. No one is around him, so he uses this time to fall onto the ground, back still pressed against the wall and his head hanging from his neck. He cries, "I can't believe I have to live here much longer... I can't live without my Jane! I need Jane to be here! I need to know she is safe! I have to destroy Althea and Loki... I can't let them get to Jane before me! If only I could snap their necks right now... if- if only..." He feels his vision go blurry and he shakes his head, attempting to bring it back. Then, something feels like he is going to puke, and he falls over, now knocked out.

* * *

"Did the gas work?" Althea says, not daring to look at the glass bulb that Loki holds in his hand as he touches it with his staff.

Nodding with triumph, Loki grins evilly and nods. "Yes. Yes it did."

"Good," Althea sighs in relief, already recently holding back all her breath. She looks at the glass bulb, staring at Thor's body, which is lying on the floor hopelessly. "We must kill his loved one, just as he killed us together. We can't let him get away with that." Standing up, she looks around the area and peers over at Loki with glistening eyes. "Jane will be one of our first targets... Where does she live?"

"Last I heard, it was New Mexico," Loki touches the bulb and it shows a state in the U.S. The state is slightly big, but also small. He zooms in by sliding his narrow finger over the bulb again and it goes into the stater. Almost all of it is desert, with very few homes that are on the countryside. He taps the bulb one last time and leans back on the rock he sits on, recovering from a burn that he got from a prison guard that hated him. Looking at Althea, he chuckles a little and says, "Do you remember where you almost killed Sif by pushing her off the Rainbow Bridge when she challenged you."

"She challenged me," Althea shrugs, smirking a little at the memory. "I've never liked that bitch. She always flirted with you and Thor, acting like she was the best of you. So, I told her the truth. That she sucked at flirting and needed a life. She got mad at me, attacked me, challenged me, threatened me, and then tried to kill me." Walking over to the edge of the cliff they rest on, she feels like Sif is watching her. Though, that has been her lifelong fear, because of what that girl did to hurt her. Pain courses through Althea's veins and she sighs angrily, stifling a sob. "She made me this way... She told me-"

"She told you lies," Loki walks up to her and pulls her hair from her neck to one side of her shoulder. Kissing her neck slightly, he whispers, "You cannot trust her. She just wanted to hurt you, because she was jealous. Many others would do the same."

"Why?" Althea feels tears fall. "I hate those words! Odin's and hers! Even Thor's!"

"Jealousy, perhaps?"

"Of what?"

"You have great powers," Loki brushes her hair with his long narrow fingers, glaring into her eyes with the gentle eyes that she felt like she had, even though others did not. "Also I heard Sif only was protecting Thor for the most, and somewhat me."

"Why you? Did she like you?"

"When we were younger, it was Thor. When we were middle-aged, it was me. Then, once she was older, it was officially Thor, which made her jealous of Jane Foster, who she has hated for years."

"Did you like her? Ever? Be honest with me."

"Never. I always thought she was the weirdest."

"Good." Giggling a little, she pulls Loki towards her and kisses him on the lips. They hold still for a while. Finally, Loki lets go and looks into her silver eyes with the first happiness he has had in a while. "You're the only one who appreciates me... The only one who ever did," Althea strokes his jawbone and tilts her head to the side in love. "I love you more than anything."

"Anything?" he lifts an eyebrow and smirks.

"Anything." She kisses him again.

When he lets go again, Loki smiles and then they continue again. The perfect moment makes her feel amazing, and she hugs him tighter and tighter.


	8. Chapter Seven: Ideas

**Chapter Seven  
**

Natasha walks across the hallway, staring straight forward. She passes Thor's unconscious body and doesn't do anything at first. Then, when she notices he is there, she widens her eyes and gasps. At the sight of this, she dives onto the floor to his side. She touches his cheek, begging the Lord to feel heat for proof that he is still alive. When she feels the warmth on his skin, she sighs in relief. Pulling up her phone, she dials some numbers and lets it ring for a little bit. Luckily, Nick Fury picks up the phone and says, "'Ello?"

"Nick, it's Natasha," she says worriedly, sweat falling from her forehead. "I found Thor unconscious in the hallway." She smells something reeking from his blonde hair and coughs. "He smells-" she coughs again "really strange... I don't know what it is, but it's some time type of gas. Should we send the medics over here, or do you just want to come here to see for yourself?"

"Send the medics of course!" Fury says, gasping at the news. "Immediately!"

Natasha nods, "Alright, bye." Then, she hangs up, dialing the SHIELD medic center. After a few minutes after talking to them, the medics run down the hall, a stretcher right behind them. Agent Hill follows them, her eyes as serious as always. Annoyed with the agent, Natasha walks up to her and states, "What are you doing here, Hill? I didn't know you became a medic." My eyes dart to her hand, where she holds a clipboard.

"I do what I want," Hill gives a nasty, white grin and looks back over to where Thor is being set down on the stretcher.

Soon, Steve is running down the hallway, Tony coming from the other end. Steve gives Tony a scornful, cold look, glancing back down at Thor with worry. "You alright?"

"He's unconscious," Natasha says quickly. "He can't hear you."

"Since when does anyone know that?"

Natasha blinks at his "sassy" retort to her. Rolling her eyes, she watches the medics begin to quickly pull Thor away. Steve watches him go, silvery eyes glistening with hope for the god. "I used to do that for a girl I knew, and some of my friends," he admits.

"What do you mean?"

"I talked to them when they were unconscious. Every time I did, their body would let loose of some muscles and breath much better."

"So it really helps?"

"Seems like it."

"Did it work on Thor?"

"Well, I didn't really get to finish my talk with him," Steve looks at her and then the medics. "Seems like everyone was too hostile to let me help."

As she stares at Steve, she comments, "You look like you need some treating." Blood drips from his head, nose, arm, chest, and legs. "You haven't gotten any yet, have you?"

Steve glances at her. "No."

"Well then go now," Natasha smoothly orders. "Every Avenger needs to be ready and treated."

Nodding slowly, Steve agrees and walks after the stretcher, jogging a little. Natasha watches him go, blinking sadly. _I shouldn't be so harsh on him..._ she thinks, rubbing her hands together to provide a little bit of warmth in the chilly room. On her shoulder, a warm hand touches her. Jumping a little, she looks over and finds herself looking into the eyes of Hawkeye, also known as Clint Barton. Closing her eyes, she leans her head on his arm.

"You look... different," he says quietly, stroking her other arm with his other hand. "Are you alright, Miss Romanoff?" His voice is flirty, and he grins down on her.

"I'm fine," Natasha is glad to see him smile. "I am happier now that you are here, smiling at me. I just needed you."

* * *

Loki watches as Althea sleeps with cold eyes. He taps the tip of his staff, blinking as he watches her snooze. _I can't risk her being thrown in jail..._ he thinks, now pacing around the area. _I don't want her hurt or killed. There must be a way to make sure she escapes._ Kneeling beside her, he pushes her hair away from her face and tilts his head to endure her beauty and continues to think, _I think I might know a way if we lose. Take her to the edge of the city and use the only teleportation device I have. When she is away, I will most likely be thrown into jail, but knowing that she is alright is all I need._

After a little while, Althea twitches and opens her eyes. Immediately, she looks at him and grins softly. He helps her up carefully, making sure her trip to sit up is gentle and smooth. When she is up, Loki kisses her slightly on the forehead. Althea leans her head on Loki's shoulder and murmurs, "Any ideas on what we are going to do?"

"To win and destroy," Loki sighs.


End file.
